“Si vous vouliez un jour…” Volume 2 of the series Airs SÈrieux et ‡ boire, with Sir William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, from Harmonia Mundi, following on from the highly acclaimed “Bien que l’amour” Volume 1. Recorded live at the Philharmonie de Paris in April 2016, this new release is as vivacious and enchanting as the first.
Author: Anne Ozioro
Bohuslav Martin? – What Men Live By
World premiere recording from Supraphon of Bohuslav Martin? What Men Live By (H336,1952-3) with Ji?Ì B?lohl·vek and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra from a live performances in 2014, with Martin?’s Symphony no 1 (H289, 1942) recorded in 2016. B?lohl·vek did much to increase Martin?’s profile, so this recording adds to the legacy, and reveals an extremely fine work.
Berlioz: Harold en Italie, Les Nuits d’ÈtÈ
Hector Berlioz Harold en Italie with FranÁois-Xavier Roth and Les SiËcles with Tabea Zimmermann, plus StÈphane Degout in Les Nuits d’ÈtÈ from Hamonia Mundi. This Harold en Italie, op. 16, H 68 (1834) captures the essence of Romantic yearning, expressed in Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage where the hero rejects convention to seek his destiny in uncharted territory.
Wolfgang Rihm: Requiem-Strophen
The world premiere recording of Wolfgang Rihm’s Requiem-Strophen (2015/2016) with Mariss Jansons conducting the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks with Mojca Erdmann, Anna Prohaska and Hanno M¸ller-Brachmann, from BR Klassik NEOS.
Hubert Parry – Father of Modern English Song – English Lyrics III
SOMM Recordings Hubert Parry Twelve Sets of English Lyrics vol III with Sarah Fox, Roderick Williams and Andrew West, brings to a conclusion what has been a landmark series, demonstrating how Parry established English Song as a distinct art form, different from German Lieder and from French MÈlodie, and indeed from other Victorian song.
Piotr Becza?a – Polish and Italian art song, Wigmore Hall London
Can Piotr Becza?a sing the pants off Jonas Kaufmann ? Becza?a is a major celebrity who could fill a big house, like Kaufmann does, and at Kaufmann prices. Instead, Becza?a and Helmut Deutsch reached out to that truly dedicated core audience that has made the reputation of the Wigmore Hall : an audience which takes music seriously enough to stretch themselves with an eclectic evening of Polish and Italian song.
Leos Janacek: Missa Glagolitica
From Decca, Jan·?ek classics with Ji?Ì B?lohl·vek conducting the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Given that B?lohl·vek died in May 2017, all these recordings are relatively recent, not re-issues, and include performances of two new critical editions of the Glagolitic Mass and the Sinfonietta.
New Hans Zender Schubert Winterreise – Julian PrÈgardien
Hans Zender’s Schuberts Winterreise is now established in the canon, but this recording with Julian PrÈgardien and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie conducted by Robert Reimer is one of the most striking. Proof that new work, like good wine, needs to settle and mature to reveal its riches.
Poignantly human – Die Zauberflˆte, La Monnaie
Mozart Die Zauberflˆte (The Magic Flute) at La Monnaie /De Munt, Brussels, conducted by Antonello Manacorda, directed by Romeo Castellucci. Part allegory, part Singspeile, and very much a morality play, Die Zauberflˆte is not conventional opera in the late 19th century style. Naturalist realism is not what it’s meant to be. Cryptic is closer to what it might mean.
Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony — Martyn Brabbins BBCSO
From Hyperion, an excellent new Ralph Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony with Martyn Brabbins conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Symphony Chorus, Elizabeth Llewellyn and Marcus Farnsworth soloists. This follows on from Brabbins’s highly acclaimed Vaughan Williams Symphony no 2 “London” in the rarely heard 1920 version.